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And this is Story in the Story.
Statistics show that the employment rate of graduates from technical schools has been higher than that of college graduates since 2017.
The Ministry of Education earmarked 600 colleges across the country to shift their focus from undergraduate education to vocational and technical education five years ago, a pre-emptive attempt to prepare for the predictable rise in demand for skilled workers in the foreseeable future considering China's resolve to transform its growth model.
The discrimination against labor work, which is ingrained in society, and also systemically reflected in talent policies and institutions of various levels of governments have prompted parents to push their children to scramble for a college education.
However, analysts have said the prejudice against manual work will hinder China from becoming a powerhouse of innovation and creation.
Today’s Story in the Story follows the rise of China’s vocational industry as the country continues to make its worldwide mark on human-driven talent and skills.
Zhang Ziyang competes during the baking event at the WorldSkills competition. (Photo: China Daily)
Winning a bronze medal at the 45th WorldSkills Competition in Kazan, Russia, in late August was not a finale for Zhang Ziyang, who was involved in the baking event, but a fresh start for his career.
"I think some time or another, I will win the world baking championship, but there is still a long way to go, requiring greater efforts and patience," the 20-year-old said.
Zhang, from the Wang Sen Institute of Western Cuisine in Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province, first came into contact with WorldSkills when he was a volunteer for his school's trials for the 2017 competition, held in Abu Dhabi.
"Back then, I thought the competition was really cool and amazing, and I hoped that one day I would be one of the competitors on the world stage," he said.
Zhang said his poor academic performance in junior high school led his parents to send him to his uncle's bakery to learn how to make cakes at age 16.
"Academic studying won't bring me a good life; maybe cakes can," he said, laughing. "Initially, I didn't like learning to bake because I had no patience for the work. But gradually, I found it really interesting because delicious desserts can make customers happy."
Having followed master bakers for a year, Zhang won a place at the institute in 2016 to learn how to make bread.
"I had already learned how to make cakes at my uncle's bakery, so I decided to learn how to bake bread because I will have to make desserts and bread, not just cakes, for customers when I open my own shop in the future," he said.
In March last year, Zhang, who graduated in 2017, became a baking teacher at the institute.
Trainees learn culinary skills at a vocational school in Linxia county, Gansu province, as a part of the county's poverty alleviation efforts. (Photo: Xinhua)
Becoming a participant in the WorldSkills baking event was not an accident, but a tribute to his endeavor.
"I felt great pressure and also a big sense of responsibility when I was informed that I would be competing at the competition in Kazan-I had never experienced that before," he said.
He added that during April and May, he spent more than 12 hours a day practicing baking bread, often staying up until 2 am.
"We were given our assignment in July, a month before the competition, but difficulties remained. The assignment was written in English, so it required accurate translation because just one mistake might bring an unbearable result," he said.
According to Zhang, the competitors were required to make several kinds of bread during the competition, including baguettes, pretzels, and brioche.
"The competition lasts about two days, and contenders are required to make specific bread within a set period," he said.
He added that some problems he encountered during the competition resulted in what he referred to as his "failure.”
"The flour provided by the competition organizer was different from what we use at home, so the dough we made was not ideal," he said. "Also, it was hard to sleep during the competition, partly because of jet lag, but mainly because of the pressure. I only slept for about eight hours in those two days."
"Of course, I'm not satisfied with the final result. I will continue to participate in other global baking competitions because I believe that I will eventually step onto the podium with a gold medal," he said.
As for his future plans, Zhang said that for the next two years, he will be responsible for training the institute's candidates for the 46th WorldSkills Competition, which will be held in Shanghai in 2021.
"I also plan to open my own bakery, where I will make bread with Chinese elements," he said.
(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Lance Crayon, Brian Lowe, and Paris Yelu Xu. Music by: bensound.com. Text from China Daily.)